Armed father arrested at school; had intended to shoot 10-year-old daughter (Capetown, South Africa)

UNNAMED DAD has been arrested after he invaded the primary school of his 10-year-old daughter, with the intention of shooting her to death. He was caught by the school principal, who managed to wrestle away the father's gun before he could harm any of the children there. This was no idle threat on the part of a "drugged up dad," as he had started a "shooting spree" elsewhere on the same day.

http://www.thestar.co.za/?fSectionId=493&fArticleId=nw20100603105522935C721132

Principal tackles drugged gunman at school
3 June 2010, 11:18

By Megan Baadjies

A Cape Town principal and his admin clerk are real-life heroes after tackling a crazed gunman who invaded their school after a shooting spree.

The Flats man was arrested after he allegedly went armed to his daughter's school with the intention of shooting her.

The school principal and one of his staff members managed to wrestle a gun from the drugged up dad after spotting him at the school.

It is believed that the father allegedly went on a shooting rampage before going onto the Caradale Primary School playground in Rocklands, Mitchells Plain, on Monday afternoon.

Nigel Maggott, 42 - an admin clerk at the school - said he saw the man wandering on the school grounds and alerted the principal when he felt "something wasn't right".

"We had a mini-World Cup tournament on the school field then I saw him on the school grounds," he said.

"I knew that something wasn't right when I saw him walking around on socks carrying a backpack."

Maggott said he immediately notified the school's principal when he thought he saw the man holding a gun.

School principal Ezra Carelse, 43, said Maggott had alerted him about the man just minutes before school was dismissed.

"While I was out on the field watching our Grade 1s play soccer, Mr Maggott alerted me about the man he saw on the school grounds," Carelse said.

"I went up to the man, introduced myself (as the principal) and then I asked him who he was and if there's anything I could do to help."

Carelse said the man said nothing and just gave him a blank stare.

"I asked him a second time and again a third time and he didn't say a word, he just looked at me," he said.

After refusing to respond to the principal, the 36-year-old man drew out his gun and pointed it at Carelse and Maggott.

"We both stood there, not knowing what to do as he was pointing his gun at us," Carelse said.

"As he was pointing the gun, I asked him again if he has a child at the school and what he's doing on the premises.

"As he continued staring at us, both Mr Maggott and I grabbed his hand and wrestled the gun from his hand.

"Mr Maggott managed to take the gun and we dragged him to the office."

Carelse said his fear was that the pupils, who were about to be dismissed at the time, would witness them tackling the gunman.

"As we were dragging him to the office, he shouted 'Julle ek het 'n bomb op my en as ek nou my voet neer sit dan blaas ons almal op!' (I have a bomb and if I put my foot down then we will all blow up)," he said.

"Not knowing if it was true or not, I lifted his T-shirt and searched his bag to see if he really had a bomb on him."

Once inside the principal's office, the man admitted that he had come to the school to kill his daughter, a Grade 6 pupil at the school.

The principal also later found out that the same man went on a shooting spree a few hours prior to coming onto the school.

"Later the secretary told me that she got a call from a parent who said she saw the same man on a shooting spree in Temporal Street, Rocklands, earlier that day," said Carelse.

"We knew nothing about that incident at the time."

Residents Barbara Paries, 63, and 57-year-old Clive America came face to face with the gunman on his rampage.

Paries said she had been standing in front of her friend's house when he shot at her.

"I was waiting for her to open the gate but when I spoke, the man looked in my direction and started shooting.

"The bullet hit me on my leg but lucky for me I wasn't (badly) injured."

America told the Daily Voice that if he hadn't ducked, he would be dead.

"He was walking towards me, in the school's direction, and when he saw me he hid the gun until he was close," he said.

"I couldn't run. He just pointed at me and fired.

"And after he missed, I ran home and he went to the school and minutes later I saw him at the back of the police van."

The gunman was arrested at the school and taken into police custody.

Carelse said: "As the police arrested him and put him inside the van, most of the learners were already making their way home.

"When the girl saw that it was her father, she got hysterical and ran home.

"She's the sweetest girl and it was sad to see her in that state. The school has offered both her and her mother counselling."

Mitchells Plain police spokesman Warrant Officer Ian Williams said the suspect has appeared in the Mitchells Plain Magistrates' Court on charges of attempted murder, possession of an unlicensed firearm and discharging of a firearm in a municipal area.